Treating rusty wishbones

ijedgar

A2OC Donor
The latest MoT has an advisory on surface corrosion to suspension arms.
I have not had time to get it up on a jack and take a look yet but when I do it would be good to apply some remedial treatment.
What would be the best course of action to minimise further corrosion?
 
You need to confirm that your A2 has the later, pressed steel wishbones. These are desperately prone to rust, and the only effective solution is to replace them with the older cast type.

In the meantime you can brush them off and spray them with Waxoyl. But the later wishbones fail so rapidly once rust has set in that you need to plan for an early switch over.

This thread covers the issue at length and is well worth your time:
 
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As the advisory only says surface corrosion I was hoping to get a little more use out of them before replacing.
I will take a look when this weather improves and see how bad it is.
Hopefully just a wire brush and waxoyl for now.
 
As the advisory only says surface corrosion I was hoping to get a little more use out of them before replacing.
I will take a look when this weather improves and see how bad it is.
Hopefully just a wire brush and waxoyl for now.
Hopefully though there was a report from another member whose wishbone collapsed so soon after passing an MoT that the Mot station paid for the replacement wishbone.
 
As long as they are still solid and not perforated at all I would say wire brush/blast (or even some chemical/electrolytic) rust removal, then Hammerite the outsides and Waxoyl the insides.
 
I've been using slightly more upmarket bilt hamber rust treatment and wax both for internal and external surfaces. Rust treater is milk in colour but turns black on hitting rust. The Wax stays on and works for longer than traditional waxoyl.

I thought i was doing well until my MOT when the test station put an advisory on telling me that they couldn't assess the wishbones or rear axel properly due to PAINT!

You can't win.

I'm planning to get my wishbones done in a couple of weeks as its a nasty job so won't tackle it personally but I have had 30k more out of them than I might have. Its all about ensuring they are sound rather than just treating.
 
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I think you did win - there was no visible rust, they were just covering themselves in case you had just painted over it.
Powder coating untreated or rusty steel is always a risk as it can corrode underneath leaving nothing but the coating, paint tends to disappear before that ...
 
As a precautionary measure before jacking the car up and having a thorough inspection I called a garage regarding replacing them.
I was informed that oem parts are no longer available but that I could source my own parts and they would fit them but with no warranty at all.
Can anyone recommend a reputable garage that will take this job on and give a warranty?
 
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